TO REMEMBER...

As part of the "National Heritage" project presented by JSC Xalq Bank, an exhibition of works by People's Artist of Azerbaijan Boyukaga Mirzazada and the presentation of a colourful catalogue devoted to the painter have been held in Baku. This project is aimed at preserving national cultural heritage. Xalq Bank plans to publish catalogues and books on artists who have left an indelible mark on Azerbaijani literature, art, music and science.

According to Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Adalat Valiyev, this project is of great importance for the promotion and development of national art. The name of People's Artist and winner of the State Prize of Azerbaijan, Boyukaga Mirzazada, heads the list of the most prominent representatives of the Azerbaijani school of painting. His work brought glory to the artist not only in our country, but also far beyond its borders. "Conductor Niyazi", "Dancer Rafiqa Axundova", "Akademician Mammad Arif", "Asiq Alasgar", "Portrait of Samsi Badalbayli" and paintings on the subject of oil have entered the golden treasury of national fine art. The opening of the exhibition was attended by representatives of civil society and culture, many of whom were personally acquainted with Mirzazada. Among those who paid tribute to the great Azerbaijani artist was the rector of the Academy of Arts, Honoured Artist Omar Eldarov, Rustam Ibrahimbayov and Rafiq Huseynov.

Water, pittance, life

Boyukaga Mirzazada grew up in a large family and was the eldest of nine children. Young Boyukaga's parents were ordinary, illiterate people. From early childhood, they called the boy "a future breadwinner". Boyukaga's father partially lost his eyesight due to an injury at work and his mother died from tuberculosis at 41. After some time, the head of the family, who found it very difficult to take care of the household, married again. Their stepmother was a good woman and replaced the children's mother. Boyukaga grew up on the famous Soviet Street. At that time, the area was believed to have a high crime rate, and it was extremely difficult to start a career there. Moreover, the Mirzazada family lived in difficult conditions. To somehow help the family, the boy carried water for his neighbours, for which he was paid a few kopecks. Sometimes he helped traders at the bazaar. He earned a pittance, buying bread and happily bringing it home. He did not study very well, because it was necessary to make a living. His disabled father swept the street outside a neighbouring store. According to the artist's memoirs, his father was a remarkable man: smart and subtle despite being illiterate. Everyone respected him for his honesty. He often tried to reassure his son and insisted that he would be successful in the future.

Boyukaga ended up in the art school by accident. Neighbourhood kids asked young Mirzazada to go to an art school with them for company, so to speak,. His friends Muxtar Cafarov and Mikayil Abdullayev studied at that school and painted very well. They persuaded Boyukaga to leave school and enter a college. His teachers liked his drawings of scenery done with a pen in an album. Among the teachers was Azim Azimzada himself and Boyukaga was admitted to the college. The youths hoped that Boyukaga's father did not know where his eldest son went in the mornings. But when his parents learnt that he had entered an art school, they were very happy.

Colouristic principle

As a student, he spent days at the school. He even forgot about food and sleep. He was interested in everything. By the way, children from poor families were given free paints and easels at that time, and even stamps with which they could buy decent clothes.

The future People's Artist graduated from the college with honours and, after that, he decided to continue his studies in Moscow, which was a real feat for a boy who did not speak Russian. Despite the difficulties, Boyukaga managed to enter the Academy of Arts. Mirzazada studied "excellently". In the summer of 1941, he came home for the holidays full of impressions and enthusiasm. After 15 days, war broke out. The student did not get a chance to finish his studies. He was not allowed to go to the war and was told that artists were needed at home. Boyukaga started drawing propaganda posters and banners, designed the interiors of clubs and officers' houses and drew portraits of soldiers who had distinguished themselves in combat.

After the victory, the matured Mirzazada returned to the Baku art school as a teacher. At the school, together with Mikayil Abdullayev and Aliaga Mammadov, he decided to radically restructure the entire education system. They set the principle of colourism as the basis for developing a pictorial vision in students - the principle of unity of colour and shape with volume. In essence, this principle still prevails. Most of their students now form the core of the Azerbaijani national school of painting.

Working as a teacher to the last days of his life, Boyukaga Mirzazada was a department head at the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts, a professor at the Azerbaijan Academy of Fine Arts and served as head of its creative studio. His works on various topics such as painting, drawing and scenographic painting are permanent features in the history of our art. These works are presented at the Azerbaijan State Art Museum and the Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature, as well as in permanent exhibitions at other museums. The portraits masterfully created by Boyukaga Mirzazada fully reflect the inner world, character and spiritual wealth of historical figures and their contemporaries.

Boyukaga Mirzazada's still lifes and paintings have a great emotional impact, calling on people to love their motherland and its scenery; they are highly professional and have a unique national flavour. His works played a major role in the aesthetic education and formation of the taste of many generations. Boyukaga Mirzazada established himself as a great theatrical artist. The scenery created by the outstanding master for a number of performances in Azerbaijani theatre, which employed a synthesis of various arts, was highly appreciated by experts.